"In grade 1, instructional time should focus on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding of addition, subtraction, and strategies for addition and subtraction within 20; (2) developing understanding of whole number relationships and place value, including grouping in tens and ones; (3) developing understanding of linear measurement and measuring lengths as iterating length units; and (4) reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes."
The current mathematics curriculum framework for Massachusetts focuses heavily on the acquisition of skills and comprehension in the first grade. The standards for operation and algebraic thinking focus on students acquiring addition and subtraction skills through the use of word problems and the use of symbols. These standards aim to make sure students are able to understand, create, and solve mathematic equations. Another goal is to have students work with whole numbers. In terms of comprehension, students should be able to understand the value of two separate digits as well as the new value of a double-digit number. This knowledge should be applied and result in more complex addition and subtraction skills. I believe although the aim of this part of the curriculum is centered around comprehension and skill acquisition, there is still opportunity to implement a more "Del-Freire-son-ish" education for the first graders. A perfect way for students to incorporate their own voices and personal lives is through the use of word problems; students can create their own during class and I can even incorporate more diverse and culturally relevant examples of word problems in worksheets.
Furthermore, the curriculum also focuses on having students develop their ability to measure object lengths indirectly (using a third unit for comparison), organize and interpret data collection by separating material into categories, and using U.S. coins for value comparisons. This part of the curriculum provides another opportunity for the classroom to be more playful and investigative with the material. One of the suggestions for exploring object measurements is using any shorter object as a unit of measurement. For this lesson, I would suggest using students name cards as the units of measurements. The students would then have the opportunity to measure objects, using themselves (in essence) as the unit of measurement. I think first graders would not only be excited to see how many times their names can be used to measure an object, but they would also be able to see how units have meaning too, which is a good transition into actual standard measurements. Using personal names also keeps the students involved in their own learning process. Also, I think it would be important to incorporate students' cultures through the use of different cultural coins to show comparison. I would prefer to use the coins that are from actual students in the class' native/ethnic/cultural countries and use them only for size comparisons, otherwise, students may become confused with the monetary value of U.S. coins (which would not work according to the state curriculum).
Finally, the last section involves the study of geometry and focuses on reasoning in terms of shapes. The curriculum wants students to be able to clearly define shapes and their attributes (what makes each shape special and definite), produce those shapes themselves, and "partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares" and using key vocabulary to describe the shares. This section seems pretty cut and dry, but I would suggest using the shapes and this curriculum standard to work with making different shapes that are prevalent in urban communities, specifically road and traffic signs. This would work perfectly with a unit that is focused on road building, materials, etc (a cross-content unit). While the students learn the standards, they can also learn and discuss the meaning behind the objects they are creating and defining, such as what does a stop sign mean. This conversation has real value for the students who live and function in urban communities, typically.
As the state framework is written now, I definitely believe there are opportunities to modify the curriculum to help provide a more liberated and critical curriculum within the standards. I do think that it is much more difficult when it comes to mathematics though and depends greatly on the individual teacher's creativity, dedication, and interest. I think the curriculum should include more critical thinking standards that challenge the students to not just comprehend the material but to ask questions and challenge the content, although most believe math is pretty concrete and should not be questioned. Or the framework could include more standards that ask the students to create critical questions with mathematic equations or think critically about the use of numbers and shapes in society and how they effect the students and their families (age/grade appropriate level).
I would like to build awareness of differences for my preschoolers, whether the diversity be in family, social class, race, culture, abilities, or interests, and I would like to help normalize these differences while helping children see themselves as active agents. This goal is most relevant to standards under social-emotional development and the science/social studies content area, particularly with the following standards:
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• Encourages practice of skills helpful for regulating behavior in the face of strong emotions
• Addresses content-area standards with a steady exposure to rich science and social studies content in the context of language and literacy activities and engaging, hands-on exploration.
One way to do this is simply having representations of diversity in a rich classroom library. It is also important to work in conversations of differences throughout the year, and with preschoolers I could develop empathy and critical thinking through staged dramatic play opportunities. For example, I know classrooms that have done reenactments of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat. The kids each had a role, and the play scenario was enacted several times with the children switching roles. Later the classroom reflected on the experience and on how everyone felt and what to do in similar situations.
The Opening the World of Learning (OWL) curriculum represents diversity in the core story books by incorporating certain racial and ethnic groups: white, black, Mexican, Korean, Chinese. I would also include books that treat the subjects of socioeconomic diversity; preschoolers are already noticing differences in ownership and privilege, and it comes out in their play. The curriculum also excludes the question of family diversity and diversity in learning styles and disabilities.
In the Unit 1: Family, I would allow children to present their family to us in some way and discuss all the different ways we can have families. In Unit 2: Friends, we could have discussions about special needs or feeling left out. In Unit 4: The World of Color, we could do an activity where children mix paints to create their skin color.
Hey Brie,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you have actually worked with OWL or done the World of Color before, but I have in my preschool classroom and the kids really love interacting with storybooks and "making" their skin color. We also had the children make a hand print with their skin color, and then we cut them out and laminated the print outs to use them in the classroom for job charts. At the end of the unit, the children also used the paints to recreate their faces. The paint was used for their skin color, but the kids got to use feathers, sticks, strings, buttons, etc. to form their eyes, hair, noses, etc. We then posted the images together on one of the walls. In our classroom library we also had books written in different languages or two languages for the children, which helped language learners as well as other students get acquainted with the text of another culture.
Your post made me miss Copper Beech (my old classroom)!
Francine